About the School

The School of World Music and Dance (SWMD) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Novi, Michigan, USA. It was founded in 2008 with the mission of promoting, teaching, and propagating Indian art forms in the Metro-Detroit area. Since its founding, SWMD has had the pride of teaching hundreds of students the classical art forms of Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam Dance. Led by director, Lalitha Ramamoorthy, many of the school’s students have successfully completed their arangatram (graduation performance) in various Indian classical art forms.

SWMD has also had a widespread impact in promoting Indian music and dance in the greater Detroit Metropolitan Area. The school has partnered with organizations such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, Oakland University, the Detroit Arts, Beats, and Eats Festival, and the world-renown Cleveland Aradhana Festival. Through these partnerships, the school has been able to expand awareness and appreciation for Indian art forms. SWMD prides itself on transcending the boundaries of classical music having forayed into Bollywood fusion performance. Many of the school’s public performances have integrated Bollywood art forms with India’s classical music and dance styles. Finally, the school has also garnered a global audience with numerous Bharatanatyam performances having been held in Dubai U.A.E and Chennai, India.

Mission

Promote, teach and propagate Asian Indian performing art forms like dance and music (Classical, folk, Bollywood, fusion).

Vision

To enrich, enhance and engage in all performing art forms of the world for culture exchange, career development and passion advancement.

Objectives

1. Teach, train and showcase performing art forms of India.

2. Nurture and nourish talents by encouraging them to pursue various performing art forms

3. Inculcate and develop an interest in performing and fine arts to enrich vocational learning

4. Create forums and opportunities for career building in performing arts with certification, and advanced training 

5. Feature and showcase niche talents, amateur artists and renowned artists at various festivals and cultural events

6. Conduct examinations, workshops and seminars to enhance learning in various performing art forms for music and dance

7. Be the cultural ambassador and representative to increase diversity, novelty and creativity in various performing arts

8. Collaborate and network with other art organizations to share, learn and enrich knowledge in various performing art forms

9. Present and entertain with music, dance productions involving both students and visiting artists/performers, to engage with the community both nationally and internationally.

10. Encourage and inspire the youth to actively pursue careers in performing  arts with continuous mentoring and advanced training.